Starfox Adventures Locked and Loaded
by Jcupton96
Summary: The way SFA should've been. Fox brings his gun, Krystal doesn't get captured, and the team-up we all wanted actually happens. Dinosaur Planet has been torn apart and it's his(their) job to get it back. How will this re-telling(re-imagining?) of the tale be spun?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **Author's Note/Disclaimer: This is my idea of how SFA should've been. As a disclaimer, there won't be a whole lot of, I suppose, imagining or adaptive ideas. I'll be pulling heavily from the source material, not really delving on a whole lot of what-if's and sticking to things that would really make sense in the Starfox/Dinosaur Planet realm. I hope you all enjoy :D**

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The rain was unrelenting. All throughout the sky was a torrential downpour of rain, and it had stayed that way for quite some time. Through the rain came two figures, one on top of the other. One was a native of the planet, a cloudrunner. The other was certainly not a native, resembling a blue vixen. The two tried their best to soar through the heavy precipitation, desperate to reach their destination.

"I received a garbled distress signal, it said something about a mountain hidden in a storm. Whoever they are, they sound in great danger!" As Krystal finished speaking, did a colossal fireball fly right above her head as she ducked to avoid it. In an attempt to retaliate, she turned around and pointed her weapon in the direction she predicted the attack to come from. As she lined up the sight, another fireball soared by at incredible speed, knocking the staff right out of her grip.

"My staff!" She yelled.

Her only weapon she could use to defend herself was now gone. With her offensive options gone, she had to now perform more evasive actions to defend herself and her cloudrunner friend. The cloudrunner, whom she deemed Kite, dove lower in altitude. Pulling a sharp U-turn far beneath the galleon that attacked them and coming up not too far behind it. Krystal directed the cloudrunner over towards the rear of the ship, it looked unguarded.

The two of them flew over and Kite perched himself on the side of the ship, making sure to turn as to allow Krystal to dismount and embark on whatever abrupt journey she wanted to. "Thanks for helping me. I can take it from here." Kite screeched and then flew off, likely keeping a close watch on the ship in case Krystal was in need of any kind of assistance.

'Well, my adventure begins.' The vixen thought to herself as she covered her face to protect against the extreme downpour as she looked around the upper level of the galleon. She moved her bangs out of her face, heavy as they were due to being soaked. She peered around the ship, wondering where the crew of the ship was. 'Perhaps below deck, I would not want to be working a ship out in this weather.' She moved around slowly and quietly above the deck, not taking the risk of attracting attention.

She stuck close to the walls trying to stealthily snoop around the upper deck, slowly making her way across the ship. On the opposite end of where she started her journey, she saw what looked like a baby cloudrunner trapped in a cage.

"I'm going to get you out of here, just wait." Krystal startled the cloudrunner a small bit, visibly she could see him jump.

"Wait, before you let me out you need to explore below deck. Before it started raining, some of the Sharpclaw were up here speaking of some kind of valuable. It's somewhere below deck, but not so low as to be among the crew. They're likely sleeping, but the valuable must be important. Please, find it before freeing me." Krystal heeded the words of the infant cloudrunner, and looked for an entrance below deck.

'Ah! There it is.' She thought to herself while looking for an entrance, a door that looked as though it was sliding back and forth with the rock of the ship appeared in her vision, she quickly made her way over towards it.

Once she reached the inside she shook off the rain that stuck to her fur, she finally had respite from the extreme precipitation. She quietly wandered below deck until she spotted something that glittered and shone brightly. 'A key? Could this be what the cloudrunner infant spoke of?' She looked around the rest of the room, nothing looked of interest.

She shrugged her shoulders as grabbed the key and tucked it away in her limited attire. 'Okay, now I can free the cloudrunner and we can escape.' She braced herself for the pouring rain again as she bolted outside once more.

Approaching the cage that the infant was imprisoned in, she felt uneasy. Shortly after this feeling came over her she found out why, he was here. A large Sharpclaw came bounding out of the cockpit of the ship, jumping down to the bottom of the stairs before introducing himself.

"General Scales. Ruler, dictator, and tyrant of this planet. What brings you to my world?"

Krystal would be lying if she said she wasn't intimidated, he was much larger and much more muscular than she was. She gulped before answering him, "I'm not here to fight you. I received a distress call and am simply investigating."

He laughed a loud, malevolent sounding laugh. Feeling a bit embarrassed but still standing as tall as she could, Krystal stood her ground. "My girl, this entire planet is in distress."

"The cloudrunner told me about you, the evil general Scales of the Sharpclaw tribe."

Once more the general let out that malevolent laugh in response to what the vixen had to say. "Girl, I am not evil. I simply rule over this planet with fear. If I did not rule with fear, the tribes would feel as though they could fight against me. Using this method, they know their place and who their ruler is." As he spoke he looked at the cage that held the infant cloudrunner, quickly striking it with the artificial claw that took the place of his left hand.

Against the logic she considered earlier, Krystal dashed at Scales in an attempt to stop her. How could he attack such a poor, defenseless creature such as an infant cloudrunner. As she approached him to strike, he swept her off her feet, wrapping his natural hand around her throat, easily lifting her off the ground with a single arm.

"You? Challenging me?" He laughed once more, right in her face as he held her by the throat. "No one, not anyone on this planet, can defeat General Scales! Farewell!" Scales carried Krystal over to the side of the ship and with a single motion, threw her overboard.

Her screams could shatter glass as she fell, she heard only her own screams and the laughter of the evil general as she fell. Her plunge didn't last long, and confusion set over her until she realized why it was.

"So, you could take it from there?"

She looked as Kite caught her from below, saving her. "Thank you, Kite. So much." Kite flew up higher as to see the evil general once more.

"Bad luck general, maybe next time." With a smug grin on her face, Kite took them away from the galleon.

"This is not over!" Were the last words she heard as the two flew away.

 **A few hours later**

"I wonder if this is where the distress signal is coming from?" The two approached what looked to be a large palace, something that looked sacred almost. Kite landed and allowed Krystal to dismount once more before he spoke.

"This is Krazoa palace. If you go inside, be very careful. This is the dinosaurs' most scared place."

The vixen nodded at Kite, "Do you think you could wait here? Somewhere out of the rain, for when I get back?" The dinosaur sought shelter underneath a nearby awning, out of the heavy precipitation. "Look!" She pointed over towards a door that had a large padlock on it. One that looked large enough that the key from the galleon might fit it. Krystal pulled out the key and it easily fit the lock as she opened the door, revealing what looked like a fuel barrel.

'This should help me get inside, if I need help.' She ran down the sloped walkway and as she expected, saw a cracked wall. Krystal retrieved the fuel barrel and tossed it at the wall, breaking open a new passage that led inside.

She travelled through the corridors, trying to locate the center of the palace in hopes of finding the one who sent out the distress call or anyone that could offer her assistance. As she traversed the traps that were inside, she finally found a wounded earthwalker. Krystal could tell how wounded he was, she knelt down and rubbed his nose, trying to help him feel better.

He coughed as he spoke, "The Krazoa…they need your help. They are…dying."

"Were you the one who sent out the distress signal?"

"Yes, when we were attacked I signaled for help. We were sent to protect the Krazoa spirits."

"The Krazoa spirits?"

"They are peace spirits, they bring life to the planet. Without them, the planet would be reduced to a barren wasteland and will drift apart." He lifted his head as much as he could to point her towards a doorway.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" The earthwalker grinned as she spoke.

"My girl, only the pure of heart can take the tests. If you believe yourself to be so, step on the shrine to partake in the Krazoa's test." The doorway opened to show a bright, beautiful shrine inside. "Please, return to me once you have reclaimed the spirit, I will provide you with as much guidance as I can. I'm not going anywhere."

Krystal walked toward the shrine after thanking the earthwalker. She stepped into the room and felt strange as she did, as if she stepped into a different world for a moment. As she inspected the shrine, she stood in the center of it and tried her best to focus. Nothing happened. She remained in that position for a moment until she felt much lighter, and she saw a golden light envelope her body and sight.

She emerged in a different room as her sight returned, quickly noticing the change in scenery. 'That is an astonishing shrine.' She thought to herself as she looked around.

Krystal climbed the ladder, noticing a kind of wraith on the other end of the room. She had no weapon, but behind the wraith she saw another fuel barrel. 'It will work for now.' She dashed across the pit and climbed the short ladder. Lifting the fuel barrel, she heaved it at the wraith, finishing it off as expected. The gate opened and she went through, seeing her next obstacle.

'This doesn't get any easier.' She saw that she would have to step on a small platform, opening the gate at the other end of the hallway. Between her and the gate were pillars of fire that she would have to dodge as she ran. The vixen took a deep breath and began to dodge the fire that she encountered. Dodging, jumping, sliding, anything to ensure her safety. She made her way into the gate as it began to close, and turned to what she expected was the Krazoa spirit.

She approached the strange looking spirit as it began to speak. "Do you wish the accept the test of observation?"

"I do, may I have an explanation before we begin?"

"Certainly, child. I will hide in one of these urns, you simply must identify the urn that I am concealed in." Krystal thought it to be as easy as it sounded, she felt prepared. She nodded to the spirit as the urns materialized around them, and the spirit fled towards one to begin the test. The urns moved in a circular pattern, not even at a fast speed.

'This is too easy, I'll have these spirits and the planet taken care of in no time.'

She pointed to the urn as the spirit emerged, moving to another urn. Now the urns crossed through the middle, making things a bit more complicated. Krystal once again identified the correct urn as the spirit changed to a different urn for the final round. Now they moved much faster, crossing the middle area, swapping positions, and all at a fast speed.

This final test was still no match for Krystal's paramount observation. After identifying the final urn, the spirit emerged and the urns disappeared. As the spirit approached her it spoke, "You have proven yourself to be pure of heart and have completed my test, I am yours to return to the Krazoa Palace."

Before she responded, the spirit rushed at her, scaring her for a moment as her feet left the ground. Once Krystal floated back down to the ground she felt just a little different. She walked over to the small moat around the test arena and saw her reflection, her eyes glowed a purple-ish blue color. As she made out the colors, her vision faded to black.

As she opened her eyes she saw that she had been warped back into the small shrine in the Krazoa Palace. Krystal approached the injured earthwalker once more as he spoke. "You have returned, with the spirit no less, I am glad. Listen well, please." He coughed as he spoke, the vixen knelt down next to him.

"These spirits bring life to the planet, without them the planet will destroy itself. You must return these spirits to this palace, without them the planet is without hope." "Where can I find the rest of them?" The earthwalker thought, he needed to help Krystal as much as he could.

"I…forgot. I am sorry." Krystal's ears drooped, and her eyebrow rose in the extreme inconvenience that came from this encounter.

"You must release the spirit, the shrine of release is behind me, up above the platform. You must concentrate to release the spirit. Please do this for…" His words were cut short as Krystal realized what had happened. She sighed as she closed the dinosaur's eyes and stood up, making her way towards the platform that would raise her to the shrine.

She went down the hall and looked to the left of the hall, seeing some kind of wall formed by…water? The vixen was curious, she touched it and certainly it was made of water, her hand was wet once she touched it. Although it was made of water, she couldn't pass through it, her hand stopped like it was a wall made of stone. Curious but bothered, she turned away from it and saw that the shrine was at the opposite end of the hall.

She knelt on the glimmering glass beneath her as she thought. 'Focus…focus.'

Krystal breathed in and out slowly, heavily, before long she didn't feel so good.

'I don't feel so…' Her thoughts were cut off as she closed her eyes and the spirit emerged from her body, entering the Krazoa shaped head that was in front of her. Her eyes opened once more, feeling a bit healthier that shortly before, as the Krazoa head opened its mouth and shot out a beam of light towards the water wall, actually opening it now.

As she turned to look at the beam she sensed a presence, turning around and seeing an ethereal-looking abomination.

"It's you!"

She was terrified as she spoke, dodging a blow from the being that intended to push her into the beam. She ran away as fast as her defined legs could carry her, hearing the laughter from the being that she could only define as evil. She ran all through the palace, back outside to the extreme rainfall. Looking for Kite back in the same area she saw him before she embarked into the palace.

"Kite! Come on let's go!"

She yelled as she saw the cloudrunner laying down, as if asleep. His head shot off the ground as he heard the vixen speak, a bit afraid when he saw how fast she was running to him.

"What?! What's wrong!?"

"Let's go!" Kite would get nothing from Krystal as she simply pointed away from the palace. She mounted up and they began to fly away, Krystal didn't even look back.

"What was wrong? Did you learn anything?"

"Yes, a little. But I need more information on the Krazoa spirits, do you have any idea who can help me?" Kite thought for a moment, scouring his mind for anyone who could be of use to the vixen. He cringed for a moment, but had to bypass his own prejudice and personal feelings for the betterment of the planet.

"I can take you to the…earthwalkers. They have plenty of knowledge concerning the Krazoa. I'll take you to Thorntail Hollow, there you can speak with the queen."

"Great, thank you so much Kite."

"While you're there, I'll go search for more information. We can rendezvous later in the Hollow." Krystal was glad that now there was some direction to her journey, it looked like it would be a long one. They flew off into the night, prepared for the strenuous journey ahead of them.

 _Meanwhile, in a remote corner of the Lylat System..._

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Here come them boys.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Loud rock music was playing in the main room of the large dreadnought ship. So loud that hardly a word could be heard between the small crew that was in the main room of the ship.

"That should be it ROB, all fixed."

The robot stood back up after the panel on its back had been securely shut. ROB looked at his artificial arm and gave it a whirl to feel how well the improvements were performed, "Affirmative, I'll get back to work." ROB walked off as Slippy turned around to continue the work he previously started on his computer.

As ROB walked back over to his monitors to work on, Peppy had something to say. "Fox! Isn't this music getting on your nerves? I'm trying to work on my maps!"

As the guitar solo hit, Fox turned around in his chair and shut his laptop, tapping along to the beat of the music playing. "Okay old timer. Turn it down Slippy!" Slippy let out a groan as he tossed a wrench back at the jukebox to turn it down. And he certainly did turn it down, all the way down in fact.

"Hey!" Fox yelled in a somewhat sad and annoyed tone as the music faded away to quiet.

Before Fox could get up to turn the jukebox back on, they received a transmission on the projector in the center of the room. "Slippy! It's general Pepper!" Pepper's head looked over at Fox, it looked like he had something imperative to tell them.

"General Pepper here! I have a new mission for you Fox. You are approaching Dinosaur Planet, an ancient world on the edge of the Lylat system. As you see, chunks of the planet are being torn from its surface, it's your job to get them back! If dinosaur planet explodes, it could affect the entire Lylat system! The only lead we have is that you must locate the queen of the earthwalker dinosaur tribe, maybe she can help you further. By the way, your fee has been approved. If you're successful, the money will be forwarded to you immediately. Pepper out!" The dog's head disappeared from the projector in the center of the room as the transmission was ended and the light of the projector faded.

Fox sat there for a moment, eyeing his teammates. "You heard the general." He said as he stood up with a grin on his face.

"Let's do it!"

He held a celebratory fist up as it looked like his two teammates approved of the idea.

"I'm gonna go start packing some stuff, can you guys get me some research or information on the planet? Like, why it's called Dinosaur planet? If it really has dinosaurs on it." Fox left the main room of the Great Fox and headed for his own quarters.

'Great, now we finally have some work. I just wish it was a little more…straightforward. Parts of a planet are literally being torn from its surface and are orbiting the planet…that's new.'

He found a medium sized backpack in the foot of his closet and tossed it onto his bed. 'Dinosaur Planet…wonder if that means the technology and civilization is kinda dated? Guess it's safe to doubt there'll be some kinda pizza shop down there.' He won a small laugh from himself with his last joke, thinking of the differences between Corneria and whatever planet he was headed to.

Before stuffing his backpack with whatever he might need, he grabbed it and headed back to the main room of the ship. "I know it hasn't been long, but have you guys got anything for me?" Peppy spun around in his chair with a cheerful look on his elderly face.

"Not much, but I think it should be enough. As Pepper said, it's ancient. All the reports I've found are saying that most everything is prehistoric, like the name leads you to believe. Inhabited by real, living dinosaurs. Just like something out of that Jurassic movie. Looks like the civilizations are not even half the level of Corneria, just like a prehistoric stone age. These reports aren't terribly new, around a decade old, some more some less. So perhaps they've made some advancements? Guess you won't know till you get down there." Fox's intuition was mostly correct, something straight out of a prehistoric or stone age movie.

Slippy approached the two of them with something that looked like a new gadget he'd whipped up. "My sources are indicating that they may even have a different language type. Here, try this on. It syncs with your headset." Fox grabbed what looked like some kind of gadget that clamped onto his wrist, with a few buttons on it. He pulled his a chip out of his pocket and pushed a button on it, expanding into his headset that he wore whenever on a mission. After putting on both the visor and the wrist comm, he could see more options now.

"So you can use this wrist comm as a translator device and the scouter on your headset can translate writing or some kind of text. You'll hear the natives speak just like they're speaking common, no problem." The wrist comm fit snugly on Fox's left arm and the comfort was paramount.

"This is great Slip, thanks. So then, how long till we reach orbit?"

ROB spoke up from the monitors he was standing in front of, "ETA to reaching orbit; approximately one hour and seven minutes."

"Looks like the repairs are working already." Slippy laughed at Fox's comment as he turned and headed back for his room to pack up for his adventure. 'Guess I should start with food, plenty of calorie mates and rations should do it. Guess I'll need a setup too to make a fire and a small cooking station, sounds like this won't be a quick fix.' Fox made his way towards the kitchen to stuff his backpack with some nutritious and quick-energy food supplies.

As he checked stuffed his backpack with all sorts of compact foods, Slippy approached him again. "We found a little information on the climate, mostly mild but there are some icy mountains. If you have to travel up there, we can airdrop supplies for you. So that way you won't have to lug everything around in your backpack. But do take whatever you can in your backpack."

"Got it, thanks Slip." Fox had his backpack mostly full of different rations, canned foods, and calorie mates. 'Okay, now I guess I'll need to decide what my weapon will be, no telling what I'll find down there. Even if they're some kind of stone age, it pays to be prepared.' Fox walked into a small armory down the hall from his room to select what he would take with him on his adventure.

'Hm, this'll do.'

He grabbed his favorite handgun blaster, gave it a spin in his hand, then slid it into the holster on his leg. He placed the rest of his cooking items in his backpack, nearly filling it up. 'Okay, what else? I know that Slippy can airdrop me anything I forget, but I wanna avoid that as much as possible. Money is plenty tight and we don't have a ton of supplies to squander.'

He closed his eyes as he thought about what else he might need to survive on a prehistoric-type planet. 'Sure hope I'm not forgetting anything besides food and cooking supplies, for this backpack at least.' Fox grabbed a small sleeping mat and a few blankets out of his closet, who knows how cold it might get at night? 'I can store these in my Arwing, so that still frees up some space in my bag. Might as well leave it empty so it isn't quite so stiff.'

Fox threw on his normal getup for any other mission he would be on. His green flight suit, his silver combat boots and knee pads, a pair of gloves, a few torso straps to hold extra ammo and a few all-purpose knives on. And to top it all off, his flight jacket with the sleeves rolled up just above his elbows. He looked in his mirror and exhaled, remembering that it had been a while since he had to suit up so extravagantly.

'Not since we lost…Falco. Wish he were here so I wouldn't have to do this solo, but duty calls.'

He strapped on his backpack and headed for the center room. He sat his backpack down next to his chair and walked up to the control monitors. "Hey, ROB. How long till we reach orbit of Dinosaur Planet?" The robot turned towards Fox, then back at the screens, then back to Fox once more.

"Approximately sixteen minutes and twenty-three seconds." Fox sat down at his chair and closed his eyes, trying to prepare his mind for the journey ahead of him, it sure seemed like it wouldn't be an overnight job.

He opened his eyes again as ROB approached him. "We have reached orbit, sir, awaiting your next orders."

'What? I fell asleep and no one said anything? Someone around here is losing their touch, hope it isn't me.' Fox walked over to the window as he looked at the planet, or what resembled a planet. 'So it's true.' He saw it with his own eyes, there were parts of the planet orbiting around, the looked like oversized puzzle pieces that would fit right into gaping fissures in the planet.

"Wow, it's incredible but horrible at the same time." Peppy approached the window and looked out at the object that resembled a planet.

"We're lucky, those asteroids are following orbit, so we don't have to worry about them flying off and hitting us. Still, not as close to the planet as we'd like, but still close enough to provide support." Fox looked over at Slippy as he also approached the window and witnessed the terrible spectacle.

Fox put his hands on his hips as a determined look overcame his face, "Slippy get my Arwing ready. I'm headed down there." The frog nodded back as he headed for the control station. Fox tossed the sleeping mat and blankets into the cargo bay of his Arwing and hopped up into the seat.

"So, Fox, I know it's been a while since we were out on a mission, your Arwing should be fine. I mean, don't stress it out to much, but unless you make contact with a good sized asteroid or take a stray hit from something, it should be fine on its own. Once we finish this mission I'll even be able to upgrade the Arwings rather than just repair them. Just try to take it easy, okay?" Fox heard Slippy's small briefing on his headset as the canopy to his Arwing shut.

"You got it Slippy, I'll do my best. Am I ready for takeoff?"

"You sure are, good luck out there. Contact us when you touch down."

"You got it, it's go time!" As Fox spoke those last words did his Arwing shoot out of the Great Fox and head straight towards the planet at extreme speed.

Getting to the planet shouldn't be a problem, all that was between them was a small field of asteroids and debris. Fox was prepared for anything, after all an asteroid field was nature. It was nature and so it was unpredictable, a terrible enemy to those were naïve concerning their flying. He perceived anything in his sight as a threat, even if they were just asteroids floating around. Just like Slippy said, one of these could spell doom for his Arwing if it hits in a semi-vulnerable spot. Flying through all of these asteroids didn't make him careless, it made him more aware than ever, only a few years ago did they encounter quite an ambush in an asteroid field on their way to Venom.

Fox was quickly pulled out of his thoughts as something did manage to surprise him; a small squad of space crafts that emerged from an asteroid field and began firing at him. He quickly angled his ship so that the enemy fire missed him, and he quickly returned a volley at the ships. He intentionally missed, only aiming close as to scare away whatever makeshift ships these were. His intentions paid off and the three ships scattered in different directions until they left Fox's sight.

'That's strange, a great ambush spot but they folded as soon as enemy fire was returned. And is someone expecting me?' His thoughts were perplexed as he was reaching the planet's atmosphere. Plenty would be on his mind concerning this almost random attack as he was reaching the planet.

He looked down at this small abode, it was a green, fertile hollow. There was a small waterfall that became a stream, ending in a pond on the opposite end of the hollow. There were plenty of trees around that looked to bear some kind of fruit, Fox's curiosity was showing even on his face. The landing gear for the Arwing deployed as it came to a slow halt once touching down on the ground, the sun was shining and the weather out was a mild springtime. The canopy to the Arwing opened as Fox jumped out onto the ground, a small puff of dirt reaching his ankles.

He activated his wrist comm and shortly after did a projection of Peppy's face show up. "Good flying out there Fox, although it looked like it got a little a erratic for a moment, what happened?"

"Had a little welcoming party. Three ships came out of hiding in the asteroid field and attacked me. I scared them off but didn't shoot anyone down, weird don't you think? Maybe someone is expecting me?"

"Maybe, I'd stay sharp out there if I were you. Now then, onto the mission." Peppy cleared his throat, Fox looked around at his new surroundings.

"You should be in a place called Thorntail Hollow, home to the Thorntail tribe. Peaceful and delicate, the Queen Earthwalker should be somewhere around here. Not entirely sure where because the map scans aren't 100% but I think you can find something. Take a look around with your scouter, the visual data can help me download a new map that I can upload to your wrist comm and headset."

"That's great Peppy! Thanks for the tip, I'll make sure to take a look at everything. You said that this wrist comm has a map function on it?" Slippy's head appeared now, almost bumping Peppy's out of sight like it was some kind of cartoon.

"Yeah Fox! Just hit the button labeled 'M' and the wrist comm should morph into a visual display. You can see a rough map of the area based on scans we got from out here. Just hit the 'R' button when you wanna turn off the map display."

"Got it, thanks Slip." Now it was Peppy's turn for his holographic head to bump Slippy out of view of the display, returning himself to the focus.

"Just, try to take it easy out there. We don't know what kind of threats await you out there, don't know who is friend and who is enemy. So just try to keep some kind of low profile, alright Fox?" Fox nodded his head at the holographic projection of the rabbit. "You got it Peppy, Fox out." With that, he dismissed the holographic projections and silenced the communications.

Fox looked around at the dinosaurs with astonishment as well as a bit of caution. Peppy was right, they may be startled by his presence. Slowly, he walked around trying to get visual data for his future map, as well as try to understand the lay of the land with his incomplete map. After looking on the map and exploring for a bit, Fox decided it was time to approach a Thorntail.

"Hello? Can you understand me?" he stood in front of one that wasn't far from his Arwing, trying to speak at a moderate tone.

"Hello, stranger. I understand you well, why do you ask?" A look of relief came across Fox's face, the translator that Slippy had just put together worked like a charm.

"That's a relief. I'm sure you noticed, but I'm an outsider here. I was sent to help put the planet back together, you know that pieces of the planet are drifting away right?"

"Yes, unfortunately. The Queen's husband was on one of those pieces of the planet, she has not seen him in quite some time." Fox's eyes widened and his ears perked at the mention of that particular word.

"Queen? By any chance do you mean the queen Earthwalker?"

"Yes, of course."

"That's great too. Can you point me in the direction of her by any chance? I need to talk to her." The Thorntail moved its head around, as if to point Fox in a new direction.

"The queen is in her royal chamber over in that direction, past the flower bed. The door is shut, but perhaps there is a way you can find your way in?"

"Great, thanks for the help." Fox waved goodbye to the Thorntail as he walked off towards this area, with an excited spring in his step. He walked over to what looked like some kind of arena, stopping before he stepped inside it. As he was about to step inside it, he heard a peculiar noise.

Then he heard it again, and once more. He looked over in the center of the flower bed, a patch that had no flowers in it, but some object protruding from the ground.

'What in the world?'

He approached the object that was protruding. It looked like some kind of weapon, a staff perhaps. He gripped it with both of his hands and heaved it out of the ground, it felt heavy. Before he was about to drop it did he feel something of a shock from the object as a blue light emitted from the whole staff. He heard a voice, a surprising but pleasant voice.

"If you are receiving this message, then I am in great danger." Fox looked around in caution, trying to identify where the voice came from.

"The staff you hold in your hands is a powerful weapon." Still Fox spun around looking for the person who the voice belonged to. He looked all around but found nothing, reaching for his blaster now.

'Oh, I get it. This must be some kind of alert system.' His heart rate lowered as he calmed himself, realizing now what was going on.

"You must learn to use it wisely." Fox laughed a little as he continued to listen to whatever this pretty voice was supposed to tell him. 'I only need one weapon, and it's right here strapped to my leg.'

"It will give you guidance when its powers can be used. My staff's main use is in combat and in time your skills may grow." Fox rolled his eyes a little bit as he sat down in the bald patch where there were no flowers to trample. He looked at the staff as he listened to the voice. The craftsmanship was paramount, the staff felt comfortable and was perfectly balanced concerning its weight distribution.

"Try different actions to unleash its powerful attacks. You can also use it to explore the world around you. I'm sure that you will find it very useful."

'Wow, whoever this person is must be really kind, really selfless. To build not only a kind of alert into this thing, but also to encourage someone to use it for themselves rather than immediately return it.' Fox's curiosity grew less about the staff, and more about the owner now that he continued to listen to the message that was recorded.

"Take care of my staff, and it will take care of you."

Fox felt a smiled creep across his face at that last line. 'Incredible, sure would like to meet this person, whoever she is. Sounds really kind-hearted.' Fox looked on the staff, running his hands across it until he felt some kind of peculiar groove. He touched this groove, that he identified to be more like a button. Pressing it, the staff quickly collapsed into a much smaller version that was just over a foot in length.

After regaining his composure from the sudden movement, Fox picked the staff back up and inspected it. 'Incredible. I have to find the owner of this thing.' He stowed it in his backpack, maybe it would come in use down the road. After stowing it away, now he stepped into the arena-like area. It looked like there was a large door on the other end, but unsure of how to open it.

He looked around and up above the door was some kind of symbol that looked rather new compared to the rest of the architecture. It looked like a sun, and much more peculiar than the rest of the structure. 'Why not? Worth a try.' Fox reached for his blaster as he took aim at this sun symbol. He fired one quick shot as the symbol changed colors and the large door slid open.

A small look of surprise came across the vulpine's face at this discovery, 'So, that thing must react to a burst of heat, good to know. Wonder if more of those are across the planet?' He stepped inside of the door and it looked like it led to a small cavern as the slope went downwards.

"Is anybody there?" He yelled as he walked down the corridor.

Fox turned the corner as he saw a new type of dinosaur, this one looked to be a bit more regal than the Thorntails. "Are you okay? My name is Fox McCloud, and you must be the queen Earthwalker." He knelt down as he spoke to this dinosaur, she looked a little rough around the edges.

"Oh, thank goodness a friendly face has shown. I need your assistance in saving my son. He has been taken to the ice mountain as the Sharpclaw's prisoner." Fox had a baffled and confused look on his face at this request from the dinosaur.

"Uh, I'm sorry. Wha-" Fox's sentence was cut off when he heard a noise. Something of a pebble coming down the corridor that he came down shortly before he found the queen. He saw a shadow, what it was he couldn't make out and didn't take a chance. Fox signaled the queen to stay quiet for a moment, he hid behind a pillar nearby and drew his blaster. Just like Peppy said, he doesn't know who is friend and who is enemy, so for now he had to assume everyone was an enemy if they didn't identify themselves.

'That's right, come on down.' He thought to himself as the gentle footsteps became louder and louder.

Soon, it felt as though the perpetrator was right upon them. As Fox saw something that resembled a body come into his field of view, that person entirely unaware of his presence, he jumped out from his hiding spot.

"Freeze."

He said calmly and just loud enough to where he knew they would hear him. He was ready to fire if this person posed a threat.

'A blue, bipedal dinosaur? No, this isn't a dinosaur this is-' He overlooked this figure that held its hands out before turning around.

"Turn around, slowly." He ordered this figure to do.

This figure slowly did so, without saying a word. As the person turned towards Fox and faced him, the grip on his gun became a bit weaker and his aim lowered just a bit,

'She's…'

* * *

"I'll leave you here now, I'll be back later. The queen should be over in that small sanctuary but…"

"But what? Is something wrong Kite?" The Cloudrunner shook his head as the vixen jumped off of his back.

"No, nothing. The queen should be down there, just approach quietly and calmly. With all the animosity on the planet you should just try your best to make a good impression." Krystal nodded to the Cloudrunner as he flew off, likely to inform his kin.

'So this is Thorntail Hollow. It's a nice place.' Krystal looked around as she jumped down from the ledge that Kite left her on. 'But…what's that?'

She looked over at this large, metallic looking structure, it certainly looked like it didn't belong here in all of this flora and nature. 'Maybe that's what Kite was talking about? I hope it isn't hostile.' Whatever it was, it didn't move at all so perhaps it wasn't a threat. Krystal wandered around the Hollow, trying to familiarize herself with the layout of the area.

'I can work on that later, I need some direction with the queen first.' She headed over towards something that looked to be a type of sanctuary and began to walk down the corridor to the cavern-like area down the slope.

'This must be the queen. And I feel like there's one more person but-' Her thoughts were cut short as her suspicions were confirmed.

"Freeze."

That was all she heard as her back was turned to the voice, she was vulnerable and had no weapon. The demanding tone had no nervousness anywhere to be detected, Krystal thought it would be in her best interest to do exactly what it said.

She raised her arms to show that she had no weapon in her hands. "Turn around, slowly." The voice told her once more, she complied quickly. She turned around to face something that looked familiar in a way.

* * *

"…beautiful."

Fox's thought was finished as the vixen turned around and faced him. Turquoise eyes, blue fur, and an angelic looking face as a whole.

'She's no threat.'

He thought to himself as his aim lowered. Quickly he snapped out of his adolescent trance as he remembered both his and Peppy's words. "Identify yourself." He said as he returned his focus on the vixen in front of him, steadying his aim.

"I'm Krystal. I was sent…by the Cloudrunners. I'm here to ask the queen about Krazoa spirits." Fox's aim lowered just a bit again, this time not because of what was in front of him, but by what she was saying.

"You were…sent by the what? To find the spirits of what? Are you serious?"

The vixen had a look that resembled something of pouting as well as annoyance, Fox thought it looked kind of cute. "Yes, I am serious. They are a big deal for the reformation of this planet. Please, can you lower your weapon so I can speak to the queen?"

Fox was still unsure of this, 'Her voice…' He thought to himself. He looked down at the queen, silently asking her what she thought of the situation in front of them.

"If she seeks the spirits, she is a friend. Please, lower your weapon." Fox slid his blaster into the leg holster at the queen's request, allowing ease to fall upon the three new acquaintances.

"I am sorry, young lady, but please I need to know of my son's safety." Fox stepped up to the queen to finish the conversation that he previously had started before being interrupted by this vixen.

"Okay ma'am, I'll be glad to get your son back. Are there any directions you can give me?" She let out a loud call, loud enough to be heard anywhere in the hollow almost.

"Speak to the Warpstone. He will transport you to the ice mountain where I believe my son is being held."

'Hm, a little pushy. But I don't have a choice, guess I'll have to help her out real quick.' Fox was a bit hesitant but it sure did seem like the queen was unhappy. Maybe unhealthy, but he would do his best to help her, and it seemed getting her son back was the best he could do now.

"That's all I need to know. I'll be back soon, queen, don't you worry." It was as though he was entirely ignoring the vixen's presence as he turned and walked up towards the exit of the sanctuary. She was a bit offended, but at the same time couldn't help but respect his focus on his mission.

"Hey! Wait up!"

'That voice…' He heard that voice again, this time he turned towards the direction it came from and this time it came from a body. The body of a blue vixen, very scantily clad, as Fox tried not to notice that last part as much as possible.

"Oh, hi. Can I help you with something?" The vixen caught up to him, next to the flower bed, and stood up straight to speak to him.

"It just sounds like you have a small journey you're headed out on. I've been around this planet a little bit, so perhaps I can be your guide?" Fox wasn't too sure, this girl that he just met now wants to guide him around? It sounds like a bad idea. Although, it sounds like he's headed into even more uncharted territory, and if she's telling the truth, her guidance just might be needed.

"Yeah…sure you can come along. Just try to stay out of the way of any danger, don't need a guide getting hurt or anything." Again that somewhat pouty look showed up on her face, Fox couldn't figure out why that was.

"Oh and my name is Fox. What's your name?"

She spoke with a more calm tone, that didn't reflect the look on her face.

"Krystal, my name is Krystal."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I already said my name, you know?"

"Uh, right. Sorry about that, guess I wasn't paying attention." Fox was walking beside the vixen as they headed up towards this thing called the Warpstone.

"So do you know anything about this Warpstone thing?" Krystal nodded her head as they walked along the pathway.

"Yes, the Warpstone can provide a means of transportation through, well, warping."

"Amazing, I wouldn't think that this planet would have tech like that. Where I come from, we usually require more setup."

Now the vixen's face had confusion on it rather than annoyance, "Tech? What's that?"

"Oh, right, sorry. It's a general term for technology, where I come from. I wouldn't have thought this place would have advancements like that. Are you from around here? I was told this world was inhabited entirely by dinosaurs." The vixen was silent for a moment, the walk was silent as Fox wondered what it was that he did wrong.

"No I'm not from…around here. I came here from another planet, there was a distress call so I came here to help." Her tone changed a little, it sounded sad. Before now she seemed neutral in the vulpine's company, but now her mood seemed to have shifted dramatically. Fox didn't know what to say here, it's not like he knew something would cheer her up.

"That's a kind-hearted thing to do, travelling from a different planet to help another." The compliment concerning her kind nature seemed to help her mood a little bit, not much but Fox was glad to help this stranger. "So this is the Warpstone? Let's see if he'll help us out." The two of them approached the Warpstone and before they even spoke, he spoke.

"Nobody brings me gifts any more."

Okay, that was a quick answer. "Oh! I know!" Fox's attention shifted back towards the blue vixen as she spoke up while they walked away. "Perhaps something in the Thorntail store will do. I remember my friend told me it's right over there, across the stream." Krystal pointed over at what resembled a cave that looked like it led into a large, crafted structure. Fox was a little skeptical, but thus far he had no real reason to distrust Krystal.

"Okay, what kind of currency does the store take?"

"Scarabs."

"Scarabs? You mean the bug things?" The vixen nodded her head in response. "Well, this planet just keeps surprising me I guess. Where can we find some? Under rocks?" Again the vixen nodded her head in response. There was a small circle of rocks near Fox's Arwing, they would start their search for scarabs there.

"Okay, so I'll try lifting this rock, it doesn't look too heavy. Just grab any that you see come out and we'll head to the store. Ready?" Krystal assumed a type of squatting position, prepared to pounce on any scarabs that might come bolting out from underneath the rock. Fox knelt down and gripped part of the rock, lifting it just a little so he could slide the rest of his hands underneath. He got both of his hands fully underneath the rock and lifted it a bit higher, shining light underneath the rock and he saw the scarabs run out from underneath.

Krystal pounced on some, picking them up and chasing after the few that got away from her initial pounce. "I got them all!" She shouted back as she got the last one that was a few feet away from Fox.

"Great, so how many do we have?" Krystal counted what was in her hands, dropping one as Fox knelt down to pick it up. "Counting the one in your hand, that makes ten." "Will that be enough to buy him something nice?" The vixen shrugged her shoulders, only one way they could find out.

"Here, let me see them. I can stow them in the pockets of my jacket." Fox put them away on an interior pocket to his jacket, the scarabs were smaller than anything he had seen before that shared the same name. The two foxes journeyed over towards the small cave and looked inside, there was a way for them to climb back out thanks to the way the rocks were formed. As they entered the store they were greeted by a strange, floating dinosaur.

"Welcome to my store, feel free to look around the many wares within these walls. I have food, special goods, and many maps. Oh, and that's the exit." It was like the dinosaur's greeting was automated, not missing a beat and not saying much of a hello.

"Uh, well okay. Thanks." Fox mumbled in response, not entirely knowing what he should say back.

"Now if you find something you like, then we can discuss a price. Now hurry and choose something, or get out." Well alright then, the dinosaur made everything rather clear without wasting any time. The two foxes walked towards the area that the dinosaur labeled as special goods and took a look around the room.

"Okay, so something that looks like it would be a nice gift, let's take a look around." Fox told Krystal and they began browsing what was in the small room. "A ball? This looks like some kind of children's toy. I don't think he'll like this." Fox looked over at Krystal, silently asking for her approval. She shook her head and she moved over to another table. "What about this? This thing looks nice and shiny." Fox inspected this thing that resembled a fruit, only it looked golden rather than the normal countenance of a fruit.

He turned around looking for the shopkeeper, as it appeared right in front of them with a poof of smoke. "That'll be 186 scarabs." Fox's eyes widened as he took in the price of the gift they wanted to buy. "We'll just keep looking." The shopkeeper groaned at his response as the two foxes walked away from the golden object.

"Well, I guess this thing is our last option. I hope we have enough scarabs for it." The shopkeeper floated up to them, listening in to what they said. "If this is what you like, you'll pay ten." Now a small smile came upon both of the foxes faces, they could afford this gift.

"Fine, we can do that. Here." Fox reached into his jacket and pulled out all of the scarabs and handed them over to the shopkeeper. Krystal lifted the rock-like object they had just purchased, feeling that it had a little bit of weight to it despite its somewhat small appearance.

"You got that? Want me to carry it?" Fox asked as they walked out of the store.

"I've got it, it isn't that heavy." The weight of the rock surprised her at first, but now she did have it under control as she carried it out of the store. After trekking back towards the Warpstone they held out the gift towards him, and his stone eyes had surprise in them.

"Ah, a little sweetie, mmmm." He reached out and pinched the small rock, then popped it right into his mouth. "I guess that answers what it was." Fox whispered to Krystal, hearing her laugh a little.

"Who dares bother the mighty Warpstone? A thousand years I've been left alone to rest, what do you want?"

Fox cleared his throat and stepped forward. "We were told that you could warp us to the ice mountain. That's all we need, can you do that?"

"Aye, I can. I can warp you to the mountain. In the future, if you require my help travelling around the planet, I can warp you to Krazoa Palace. It's a sacred place for the planet, but I can only send you there if you have a Krazoa spirit."

"Krazoa…palace…" Fox turned around as Krystal whispered.

"Something wrong?" The vixen looked back up at him, shaking her head.

"Okay, thanks Warpstone. We just need to go to the ice mountain now." The Warpstone held out his right hand to the foxes, beckoning them to step onto it. Fox stepped onto his hand, and Krystal followed him. As they stepped onto his hand, they both felt much lighter, and as their vision faded they could see the Warpstone close his hand. Fox felt a sudden rush of fear, not knowing what was happening around him as the last thing he saw before his vision faded was the giant stone hand closing on him.

It felt strange, like they were floating through space without any spacecraft, and their vision slowly returned as they saw a cave. Fox fell off of the shrine that Krystal was standing on. His face in a small bit of snow, as the cold shock quickly returned him to full consciousness.

"Whoa!" He jumped out of the small pile of snow and his back hit the wall behind him. He looked around, trying to figure out what happened to him.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" The angelic voice snapped him out of his shock.

"I'm fine, I guess. Not used to warping like that, where I come from it's a little different. Guess I wasn't ready for it all. So we're here? At the ice mountain?" Krystal stepped off of the platform and stood next to him while he sat against the wall, she kicked some of that same snow at him.

"What do you think?"

Fox shivered a little bit, giving her a small glare. The two of them walked towards what looked to be the exit of the cave, and it certainly was. Krystal easily noticed the extreme change in temperature from Thorntail hollow, given her small supply of attire.

"Cold?" Fox asked her, despite knowing the answer to be obvious.

"I'll be fine, I've been around the planet a little and have been fine." Fox rolled his eyes a little bit as he laid down behind a small ridge, this way he could overlook the area ahead of them.

"What are those things out there?" Fox saw two bulky, bipedal dinosaur-looking things. With the exception that they seemed to have some kind of leather armor on, and carried weapons.

"Those are the Sharpclaw, the tribe that will be our enemy." Fox looked from the vixen back to the two dinosaurs in question.

"My enemy huh? They don't look so tough." Krystal rolled her eyes at what he said, noticing him reach for his blaster holstered on his leg.

"Is that a weapon?"

"What? This? Yeah this is my blaster, I'm gonna take these guys out so they won't be a threat to us."

"What? No not yet! We still don't know where the prince is!" Fox let out a hardly audible groan, his idea of shoot first and ask questions later had been debunked. Krystal wasn't wrong, for certain. The two of them saw a large ship coming into their vision, it had to be important due to the size of it. The lower hatch opened and something began to descend, looking familiar to them both.

"That must be the prince huh?" He looked over at Krystal and she nodded in return. As the prince landed, he wasn't greeted royally. One of the Sharpclaws hit him with its weapon, quickly scaring him into submission. The two of them chased him into a nearby cave, things didn't look too bright for the prince.

"It appears we have located the prince." Krystal was right, they stood up and eased their way over towards the cave, trying to avoid making noise outside the crunching of the snow beneath their feet. The two of them heard the shouting inside, and it sounded like the prince was being hurt even more.

"Okay, you wait here. I'll handle this."

"But there are two of them, you're outnumbered and they are quite strong. I'm going too."

"No, you stay here. You don't even have a weapon." Krystal's face had a look of annoyance on it, while Fox's was a bit smug. He signaled for her to cover the entrance as he stepped inside the cave.

'Whoa, these guys are a bit bigger up close.' He thought as he approached the two enemies, indeed they were a bit beefier than he thought.

"Hey scaleface! Pick on someone your own size." The two of them looked over at him questioning who he was and what he was doing here.

"I am Fox McCloud, lead pilot of the Starfox team. I've come to take the prince back to his…home?" Fox became distracted while the prince ran out of the cave, foiling Fox's rescue attempt. One of the Sharpclaw blindsided Fox, hitting him while he was distracted, slightly disabling him for a moment.

"Hey wait!"

Now the prince had taken off, leaving the cave and running down the hill in front of them. Krystal noticed this, yelling for the prince to stop. He only ran faster down the hill in front of them. After trying to hobble towards the prince, a Sharpclaw shoulder tackled Fox, knocking him off of his feet. The two of them hopped on the nearby jet bike machines and took off out of the cave, down the hill after the prince.

Krystal poked her head inside to ensure if it was safe, then stepped inside. "So, it appears you 'handled' it well." Fox gave her one more glare as he recovered, standing back up and looking around the cave.

"Pick a better time to try and be funny sweetheart." His look wasn't a playful one, it was a bit embarrassed as well as annoyed.

In the corner he saw what he was looking for. He took off his backpack, then his jacket and threw it at Krystal. It landed right across her face as she took it off and saw Fox putting on his backpack, her face confused as well as annoyed.

"What is this-"

"Shutup and put it on. Try not to get frostbite from the wind chill." Her face still confused, not knowing what frostbite or wind chill are. Fox ran towards the back of the cave and looked at it, another one of those jet bikes.

He laid on the mechanism and tried out the controls. 'Similar to the Cornerian models huh? This'll be a cinch.' He revved the throttle and moved forward a little, stopping beside Krystal.

"Aren't you listening? I said put that on so you don't get frostbite. There's another bike back there, get on and hurry up!" He nearly yelled at her as he took off, hardly catching a glimpse of her putting on his jacket and making her way towards the back. Fox headed down the hill, the one place that the prince could run that wasn't a clear dead end. He almost wished he had kept his jacket, with how cold the wind chill was making it. It was bearable while he had his jacket on, but he was hoping he wouldn't have to do anything in these colder regions, about now he was wishing that he had asked for Slippy to airdrop some warmer attire.

He bit the bullet and rushed down the hill, revving the bike to go as fast as it could since the Sharpclaws had a headstart on him. The turning was a bit different from the jet bikes he had seen before, but he quickly adapted. He would have to, an error at the speed he was going was guaranteed to be fatal. Before too much longer he could see the two Sharpclaw ahead of him. He grinned as he caught up to them, he had been in a situation similar to this a few times in the past. He eased up to the first one, unsure of whether or not they were aware of his presence.

He lightly nudged the back of the Sharpclaws jet bike, then gave the bike a little more power and turning a bit more sharply. This resulted in his presence quickly being known, as he spun the Sharpclaw out and crashing him into a large pile of snow by a tree. The impact being strong enough to shake the tree, dumping another sizable portion of snow on top of the Sharpclaw and his bike.

Krystal had nearly caught up to Fox, able to see his maneuver from a distance. She grinned at his excellent move he had pulled to disable the Sharpclaw. After jetting through an icy tunnel she caught up to him, the second Sharpclaw still a bit ahead of him. He turned his head over to see if it was indeed her, once he noticed that it was he re-focused on the task in front of him.

The Sharpclaw was a sizable distance in front of him, he hoped that the prince had gotten away or found a good hiding place. Fox revved the throttle more, boosting up to max speed. But it wasn't enough, they were reaching the end of the hill, it looked like. He wouldn't catch the Sharpclaw, and he knew Krystal couldn't since she was behind even him. He had to think fast, and he remembered his earlier plan.

As the Sharpclaw reached halfway down the final slope, he pulled out his blaster and blasted the back left turbine of the Sharpclaw's bike. This caused the Sharpclaw to spin out as well as lose all of his momentum as he spun out and began to slow down, off to the side of the pathway. Fox dodged the bike and its occupant, grinning as he looked back. His grin soon disappeared as he noticed that the bottom of the hill led to a drop off, into what looked like a near-frozen pond.

He yelled as the bike got away from him and he nearly flopped face-first into the cold pond. He surfaced, spitting out the frigid water and gasping for air.

Krystal dodged the newly spun-out Sharpclaw, losing a little momentum in the process. She looked ahead and also saw the drop off, unaware of what was below it. Her own bike got away from her as she looked below her, plummeting to the cold pond.

"Look out!" She yelled, as she saw Fox's head pop out from underneath the water. Fox quickly dove back underwater to avoid the impact.

Once again he surfaced, gasping for air and making sure his vision had returned entirely. He looked around for Krystal when he heard a small bubbling to his right. He looked over and shortly after did a soaked vixen emerge from the water, spitting excess water out of her mouth and right into his face. Her vision came to, and she was greeted by an annoyed, and soaking, look on Fox's face.

"Oh um… sorry, Fox." She tried smiling, to ease his annoyance. He swam towards the shore, where their new friend was awaiting them.

"Wow! That was cool!" The prince told them. Fox brushed himself off, trying to get the excess water off of his clothes, turning around and offering Krystal a hand to help her out of the cold pond. She gladly accepted it, the jacket was a bit large on her and was much heavier now that it was soaked.

"Thanks. So you're the prince? What's your name?"

"Tricky, prince Tricky." Fox grinned a little, and let out a small laugh.

"Nice name. Well then, Tricky, I'm here to escort you home. Do you know the way or are we gonna have to find a way out of here?" Tricky looked around at their surroundings as the two foxes tried to dry themselves.

"No, I've never been here before. I just had to trust my instincts to try and find a way out of there." Again, Fox laughed at the prince's comment. "Sounds like a sound strategy, well then let's go. We need to get you home." Fox turned over towards the soaking vixen behind him, and the soaked jacket.

"Here, give me the jacket. You're soaked and this won't help you now." Krystal turned towards Fox, a bit surprised by his care for her considering how he had behaved recently towards her. She handed it to him as he rang out all of the water. He put it in his backpack, later on he could dry it out.

"Okay, let's just head this way." Fox led the trio towards the one exit, and it led to a small pit of lava. "Well, that's a bit random out here in this snow land. But at least we aren't so cold." Fox felt pretty warm now, his clothes were dried off, his jacket in the backpack might even be dried off now. In the middle of the pit was a platform they could jump to, then another platform with a small set of rocks they could climb.

"Are both your feet dry? I don't want either of you to slip." As the descended the rocks to the first platform. The vixen and the dinosaur both checked their soles to ensure the safety. They were both dried off as they watched Fox leap across the first gap, and then the second, without a problem. Next was Krystal, who elegantly leapt across both platforms, landing lightly and gracefully on her feet.

"I'm gonna go look ahead, make sure Tricky doesn't fall." Krystal nodded to Fox again as he scaled the rocks. As he reached the top he was surprised, Tricky was already there.

"What in the? How'd you get up here?" The dinosaur simply shook his head.

"Sorry, family secret." Fox rolled his eyes and groaned.

"At least we won't have to carry you everywhere." Fox turned around to help Krystal up the rocks, still surprised at his own chivalry or politeness towards her considering the past events of the day.

"How did he?-"

"He said it's a family secret, at least we don't have to carry him all that much."

Fox grinned as they all headed down the pathway of snow. As they headed down into a new valley, they noticed a few Sharpclaw on the way there. As the approached them, Fox's hand quick to reach for his blaster, Tricky gave them away.

"Whoa! Sharpclaw!" he took off running away from Fox and Krystal.

"Tricky! Wait!" Fox facepalmed as the dinosaur ran off. He groaned and ran off to catch him, with Krystal in tow. A Sharpclaw noticed them and began to walk towards them, his weapon brandished. Fox reached for his blaster and pointed it at the Sharpclaw, flipping the safety off.

"Freeze!" He yelled at the dinosaur as its pace didn't slow.

"Well then." He cocked his head and pulled the trigger, sending a blast of energy through its Sharpclaw was knocked off his feet, but to Fox's surprise, the Sharpclaw got back up.

"Well, that's new."

Fox put two more shots into the sharpclaw's chest, this time the dinosaur stayed down. "These guys really are tough, like you said. I've hardly seen anyone take more than one well-placed shot from this model." Krystal looked at the weapon in Fox's hand.

"That's some weapon. I had something kind of like that, that could shoot heat blasts like that."

"Thanks, I'm sure we could have a nice conversation about that sometime. But now we have to save Tricky before he gets in trouble." The two of them ran down into a small, iced valley. Tricky ran from two more Sharpclaw, screaming for help. Fox charged up his blaster and took two quick shots, blasting both Sharpclaw through their heads, dropping right there.

"Tricky are you crazy?" Fox scolded the dinosaur when he approached him.

"Okay okay, I'm sorry. How about next time something like that happens, how about you just whistle and I'll stay with you, okay?" Fox nodded along as they searched for a way out of this valley. They saw a mammoth-like creature standing over by a ledge, looking a bit upset.

"Think you can talk to him? I'll try to find a way outta here. Maybe we can take that ledge over here." Krystal nodded to Fox's request and she made her way over to the large mammoth, which she deemed a Snowhorn.

"Are you hungry?" She asked the behemoth of an animal.

"However did you know, lass?" She just cocked her head back and forth, shrugged her shoulders.

"Female intuition I suppose. What would you like to eat?" "There should be a type of Alpine root nearby. They may have been buried underneath the snow, if you can get me one then I would be glad to help you in return." Krystal nodded with a smile as she looked around for any sign of this alpine root. She looked over at Fox, who was looking for some way out of here. Then she looked at Tricky, who was just wandering around. Krystal whistled, catching Tricky's attention, he looked over at where the sound came from as Krystal beckoned him to come over to her.

"Hey ummmmm…" The earthwalker actually didn't even know her name, introductions had been so minute that Krystal forgot to even tell the prince her name.

"My name is Krystal, I'm sorry for being rude earlier and not introducing myself."

"Oh it's okay Krystal. I mean we have been moving a lot and Fox over there doesn't seem too happy. Is he always so grumpy?"

"I wouldn't know, I met him a few hours ago. But he has seemed a little grumpy ever since we got here to ice mountain."

"Oh really? I thought you two knew each other and all. What do you need?"

"The Snowhorn over there told me that he would help us if we found him an alpine root. He suggested that perhaps that some could have been buried underneath all of this snow. Would you help me look through all of this snow to find one?"

"Oh boy! That sounds fun! Let's do it, we can go on our own adventure while Fox is over there doing his own thing." Krystal smiled and laughed at the child-prince's excitement at their small adventure ahead of them. They search around the rink of ice that surrounded a large tree, seeing a multitude of snow mounds. A few of them they had dug through to find nothing but more snow and eventually frozen ground.

'Hmmm, where would something like that be?' Krystal thought as she looked around, seeing a bit of a larger snow pile next to a tree. She pointed over to it as Tricky got closer to it and began to dig. She joined in, shoveling through all of the snow with her hands in hopes of finding what they were looking for. When she was most of the way through she felt something, and then as she moved more snow she saw something green. She dug around the green piece and felt something more solid, then reached a bit further into the snow.

She gripped something that was round and pulled out what she was looking for, an alpine root. "Is that it?" The prince walked up to her, curiosity in her eyes. "I would hope so, otherwise we would have dug through this cold snow for nothing." She smiled at the prince as she stood back up and walked over towards the Snowhorn.

"Ah! That's what I needed!" The Snowhorn used his trunk to quickly snatch the root from Krystal's lithe hands, letting out a loud belch and Krystal verbalized what she thought of the smell.

"I'll help you out now. Here, this should prove useful." The Snowhorn reached around behind him and then handed Krystal a bag of some sorts. "This will help you carry more scarabs. Perhaps it will come in handy." Krystal nodded in thanks to the Snowhorn and walked over towards Fox.

"Hey." She said to him, concerning her and Tricky's earlier conversation concerning him, she was unsure of how she should approach him.

"Hey, what's that?" He pointed at the newly acquired bag. "The Snowhorn gave it to me, he said we can carry scarabs in it. Maybe it can hold around 50? Better than putting them in the pocket of your jacket." Fox nodded in response as he stowed the bag in his backpack for the time.

"I think we can get up on this ledge here. I'll give you a boost, do you think you can help pull me up? I may be able to get up on my own, but just in case?" Krystal had an unsure look on her, then she nodded. "I'll um…make sure to not look up." Fox's face had a hint of red in it, now that he was verbally acknowledging Krystal's attire. He looked at her as her face too had a tint of red, not saying a word in return, just silently approaching the ledge above them.

Fox cupped his hands together as he crouched a bit to accommodate for the small but noticeable height difference between the two. She stepped into his hands as he lifted her up, making sure his eyes stayed focused on the ground below him, instead of what was being raised above him. As Krystal lifted herself off of his foot, did one of her sandals fall off.

"You dropped something." Fox tossed her sandal back up to her, with a grateful look on her face. He jumped up and got up to his elbows above the ledge, clambering as much as he could to pull himself above the ledge. Krystal rushed to his aid, grabbing one of his arms and pulling him up as much as she could. Fox hoisted his leg up above the ledge, finally getting everything else up as he climbed, showing Krystal a grateful look of his own.

"Are you guys done yet? Come on, I think we're almost home!" They looked over at Tricky, who had performed his little trick and was already halfway down the path. "That truly is some trick of his." Krystal said, winning a small laugh from Fox. They headed down the path and saw a small cave entrance, thinking that they perhaps found their way home. When they approached the cave there appeared to be a large Sharpclaw blocking their way.

Fox held out an arm, signaling for Krystal and tricky to stay back as he reached for his blaster. The Sharpclaw quickly held out a hand to signal Fox to stop, "25 scarabs and you can pass." Fox seized his grip on the gun and turned back to his team.

"Well, you heard him. I don't wanna kill him." Krystal and Tricky nodded as they all split up to find scarabs. They reunited in front of the Sharpclaw and offered him the payment.

"You can pass, but don't tell boss."

They all grinned at his obvious mischief as they passed through the cave. They traversed through the cave, avoiding the bats and came to something that resembled a sewer system, the smell wasn't the only thing that gave that idea. "Great, and we have to swim again. So much for my jacket being dry." Fox laughed a little as he jumped in, the water was a little warm to his displeasure. "Gross, I hate swimming in warm water." Krystal laughed a little as she dipped her foot in to see just how warm it was.

The three of them swam around the sewer system and weren't hesitant to hoist themselves out of the warm water. They trekked further down the cave, hoping they would have some kind of respite soon. At last they saw a light at the end of the tunnel they were in, and it grew larger the closer they came to it. They resurfaced from the cave to see something that was a pleasant sight as well as a familiar one, they were around the back end of Thorntail hollow.

"We're here, finally." Fox said with a bit of a sigh.

"That's my ma!" Tricky yelled, it appeared his hearing was much more acute than that of the foxes, they didn't hear anything besides the natural noises of the hollow. He jumped off the rather high ledge they were all standing on, bolting towards the sanctuary where they all left his mother.

"He looks happy. Guess I had better go see what's happening. Ladies first I suppose." Fox beckoned Krystal towards the ladder by the ledge and she began to descend without a word, the conduct between the two had been…interesting for the first day of their meeting.

As he descended the ladder, he heard that voice again, "Fox, were there Sharpclaw here before we left?" His feet hit the ground as he looked towards the hollow, now on level ground. There were a few Sharpclaw patrolling the hollow, and the denizens were looking a bit afraid of their uninvited guests.

He drew his gun from the holster and loaded it, "No there certainly were not, and there won't be any here if I have anything to say about it." He pointed the gun at the first Sharpclaw, only about 12 feet away. Sending a bolt right through its head, it dropped lifeless a second later. Fox dropped the remaining Sharpclaw as he and Krystal headed towards the sanctuary to find tricky and his mother.

The two of them found Tricky by the queen, a bit of concern on his face. "She's gonna be okay, isn't she Fox?" The queen's eyes were almost shut, she looked to be a little sick.

"Is there anything we can do for her?"

"We need to find white grubtubs. My mom gives them to me when I'm not feeling well, the last place we found them was down in that big well. But it's dark down there, you might need some way to light the place up." Fox thought for a moment, perhaps something in the store could help him. His headset had a small flashlight on it, but it was mainly made to illuminate a small space or a specific object. Sure it was a decent flashlight, but there was no telling how big it might be down there, the flashlight may not provide enough light.

"Okay, I'll go see if there's anything at that store that can help." Again he walked off, not even acknowledging the vixen's presence, leaving her expression to be a bit baffled.

"Hey, Fox!" He turned again, standing by the flower bed feeling a bit of dejavu.

"Do you mind if I tag along? I…wanna help too." Fox managed a small grin, she hadn't been the most help to his mission so far, but she had yet to really hinder him. Plus, her voice sounded really nice, and familiar oddly enough.

"Sure, let's go. We'll need some scarabs, so let's go collect some." The two of them went over to the rocks they searched earlier, hoping for a small repopulation of scarabs. With the new scarab bag they received, they filled it all the way to the top and were prepared to find what they were looking for. As they entered the store again they went to the same section, finding something that looked to be a type of lantern.

"Do you think this will work?" Fox asked Krystal's opinion on it, he hadn't really spoken to her much.

"This looks nice, perhaps we can find some fireflies to put in here. They provide a lot of light." The two of them called the shopkeeper over, and after a bit of haggling, stowed the lantern away in Fox's backpack. As they approached the gigantic well, they saw a small crawlspace, their only way in. Crawling through was a bit stressful, afraid that something might cave in on them. There was another tall ladder that they slid down, into a somewhat misty interior of the well.

"This mist is a bit thick, can you see okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Fox's response was abrupt, it was apparent that he wanted to get out as fast as possible. They journeyed around, avoiding anything that looked hazardous to them.

"Look, a hole. Maybe deeper down we can find those things Tricky was talking about, grubtubs?" Krystal nodded, validating what Fox was saying.

"They are a type of food for the earthwalkers, this variation is more medicinal." Krystal's help was much appreciated now, Fox had entirely forgot to ask Tricky about the objective to his current task. They descended the ladder and it was clear that the lantern would quickly come in handy.

"The glass of this lantern should help illuminate more, if these fireflies aren't enough." Fox informed Krystal as he activated the flashlight on his headset.

"That really is something. That thing on your head." Fox grinned as he turned around and it illuminated her beautiful face.

"It's something my friend designed. Like it?" She nodded as he turned back around, hoping to find some fireflies.

"There! Those are the fireflies." Krystal pointed over towards these green orbs that floated around a small puddle. They both slowly approached the glowing orbs, then jumped and caught them, stowing them away in the lantern. "Wow, these really are bright now. I can save the battery life on my headset now." Fox said as he turned off the flashlight, thanks to the illumination provided by the fireflies.

"Look! There's one right there." Krystal pointed towards a small mushroom, it matched the small description from earlier and Krystal validated the mushroom. She plucked it from the ground and handed it to Fox, it was a bit soggy due to all of the moisture from the underground cave. "How many do you think we need?" "Three will probably work. They are very concentrated." Fox was glad to hear they wouldn't need many more, he was already ready to get out of here.

They walked down a small slope that led to a pitch dark area, until Fox pulled out the lantern, illuminating the room. "There's another one, it's good that we found one. The humidity down here is ridiculous." Krystal laughed a little as she squatted down to pluck the next mushroom. "So where do you think we can find the next one?" Krystal was surprised that he was asking her for help now, earlier he seemed indifferent to her. Now he was a bit more curious of what she was thinking.

"Maybe over here, up on this ledge perhaps? Since we yet to be up here." "Yeah, why not. I'll give you a boost and you can take a look." Fox held out his hands and helped Krystal to the top of the ledge as she looked around, her eyes widened and a smile quickly spread across her face as she pulled herself up above the ledge.

"I found one!" She plucked one and quickly ran back to the ledge to show Fox.

She moved quickly and the moisture of the cavern made her wish she hadn't. As she approached the ledge again she slipped on the edge of it and began to plummet towards the ground below the ledge, closing her eyes and bracing herself for the impact.

"Are you okay?"

She opened her eyes again and saw what she almost didn't suspect. Fox caught her before she hit the ground. "I'm fine. Thanks, Fox." He gently put her back down on her feet, making sure not to move too fast.

"Here, I'll put it in my backpack." He reached out his hand with a genuine smile as Krystal placed it in his hand. "Let's get out of here, I'm sick of this place already." The two of them headed back to the sanctuary and gave the queen the medicinal mushrooms. Her eyes opened back up as it appeared life surged through her once again.

"Thank you both! Thank you for saving my son and for saving me!"

Fox let out a sigh of relief, "Okay okay, enough of the thanks. Now I need some help from you. Can you just tell me what's going on?"

"This is all the work of General Scales. He leads the Sharpclaw tribe, and this time he has managed to defeat us."

"Right, so we've got an enemy to take care of, I thought as much. But what about the planet? Why is it breaking apart?"

"This planet is rich with a magic energy. The energy is so strong that it pushes the planet apart. To stop this, the ancient Krazoa created four spellstones to hold the magic energy. Once Scales removed the spellstones, the planet began to fall apart, simple as that."

"Right, so that's all a bit strange, but I think I've got it. So I just need to find these spellstone things and put them back?"

"See mom! I told you he was good! Starfox, yeah…" The queen smiled as she looked at her son. "My son will remain with you."

"WHAT?! Are you craz- I mean, sure. But it's gonna be dangerous out there, are you sure he's up to it?"

"Certainly, he knows the planet well, and he's sure to provide some kind of sidekick assistance."

"Right, well sure. Just remember to not get too out of line or anything, alright Tricky?" "Yeah yeah! Totally!" "Now then, Fox. We last sighted Scales in Darkice Mines. The gatekeeper is a silly fellow, but I know him. Go back to the Snowhorn wastes and find him."

"Great, and we just got back from there. We'll go tomorrow, it's getting late and I've had a tiring day." The queen nodded along as Fox left the sanctuary, Tricky stayed with his mom for the night. Fox left for his Arwing to fetch the blankets and sleeping mats that he had brought for the nighttime, resting his backpack on the small pallet he had made by the flower patch.

He lit a small fire next to his pallet, trying to ensure he dried off and stayed warm from the fire.

'Oh, that's right.' He thought as he stood up, leaving the small fire unattended for a moment. He walked back down to the sanctuary where Tricky and his mother were, they were sound asleep.

'That's weird. I could've sworn…' He exited the sanctuary and looked around the hollow, then found what he was looking for over by the waterfall.

She was laying down on the land next to the beginning of the stream, it appeared as though she was gazing at the stars.

"Hey, Krystal?" She looked up, seeming a bit surprised at his presence, nevertheless she sat up and met his gaze.

"I made a fire and I have some food over there by the flower bed, if you're hungry or cold." He offered the vixen a hand as she gladly accepted the help to her feet. The short walk over towards the small campsite was one of silence. Fox wanted to offer her aid, after all she had a long day too.

"Here, I have a few different things. They aren't the most delectable, but they have plenty of nutrients and they'll fill you up." Fox pulled out an assortment of the military-grade quick foods.

"That's a calorie mate."

"A calorie mate?"

"Yeah, it's packed with plenty of nutrients. I usually eat them for breakfast, especially if I'm running late. Here are a few other flavors." He pulled out two more boxes, one labeled to be a fruit flavor and another one that was plain. "I usually eat the fruit one, go ahead and try it." He pulled it out of the box and handed it to her with a smile on his face.

"Mmmm, this is nice." She bit into the fruit flavored one and had a happier look on her face.

"Yeah? I'm glad you like it…we've had a long day." This was the first time he acknowledged that he and Krystal were a unit. That he wasn't on this mission by himself, that he did indeed have a partner. She noticed, and a smile crept across her face.

"So uh, Krystal?"

The beauty of a vixen turned over to him with eager eyes, it looked as though he was nervously twiddling his thumbs.

"I'm uh…sorry about snapping at you earlier. And not treating you the best. I'm sorry about all of it."

"What do you mean?" She scooted a little closer and sat next to him on the pallet in front of the campfire.

"I mean, how I was yelling at you, and not talking to you. I mean you offered me help and I wasn't exactly treating you the way I should." Krystal opened her mouth to speak, but Fox did so first.

"It's just that this is kind of a job I didn't wanna take, since it was so out of my element. I guess I'm a little stressed and I was taking it out on you, so I'm sorry for it all."

"Fox, that's fine. I thought that perhaps you had a little bit on your shoulders. Hopefully you will be okay on this, I'll be going around the planet trying to do what I can to help."

"Actually…would you come with me?" Krystal's face held an expression of surprise, she was not expecting Fox to ask her for more help, even after his heartfelt apology.

"You want me to come with you? On this journey?"

"Yeah, if you want to. I mean I understand if you don't want to-"

"I would love to come with you and help." He looked up at the vixen, a genuine, angelic smile on her face.

"Thanks, Krystal. Here, I want to give you something." He reached over and grabbed his backpack, rifling through it trying to find something. "I found this shortly after I got here on this planet, and for some reason you reminded me of it. Plus you said you don't have a weapon, maybe this will work?" He pulled out the staff he found earlier in the day and handed it to her, her eyes widening as she nearly snatched it out of his hand.

"This is…my staff!"

"It's yours?"

"I dropped it a few days ago, when I was…investigating some things concerning the planet. And you found it?"

"Yeah, it was sticking out of the ground in the middle of that flower patch behind us." She sprang onto Fox with a light hug, that surprised him a little.

"Thank you, Fox."

"You're welcome, Krystal. I'm glad I could help you for once." She came off of him and yawned.

"You sound tired, why don't you go ahead and go to sleep? I'm gonna stay up for a bit."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just go on to sleep, I'll see you in the morning." He smiled at her as she moved over to the other side of the pallet and he stood up, she watched him move over to the stream and squat down a little. As he looked around this hollow, seeing the waterfall, stream, all the trees and looked up at the night sky, his looking around ended on the vixen who was trying to make herself comfortable on the makeshift pallet that he laid out for them.

Some of the words of one of his favorite songs flashed through his head as he looked at her,

(We'll just turn and walk away. How could we let it end like this? Just turn and walk away)

He shook his head before his mind could complete the verse, he laughed a little as he saw her finally drift off to sleep.

'Silent night' He thought to himself as he smiled at the journey that was ahead of him.

* * *

 **Holy cow this was a bit of a challenge. Updates may take longer than on my old story, but that's because I'm trying to have less chapters, but longer ones instead. That way perhaps it will feel like there is more meaningful content and not some boring, stock/just-because chapters. Hope everyone is enjoying so far, it's fun to right some action/adventure stuff. Little campfire talk scenes are always nice, aren't they?**


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